You Want to #EndIt?

First, let me state I’m grateful for the voices in the End it Movement. I’m glad to see respected voices of men and women publicly denouncing human trafficking. I’m historically leery of any sort of fad or fanfare around this subject, while still maintaining a consistent gratefulness toward people who are saying something instead of nothing. So first, thank you!

Sadly though, for the vast majority of people, one day, or five days, or ten, or whatever amount of time you give to thinking about the atrocity of human trafficking, and sex slavery specifically, is not enough to End It.

You have to act. And acting on this stuff is not as hard as we make it seem—or as easy as marking a red X on your hand or buying a tshirt or retweeting a tweet. There are actual things you can do in your home and life to end slavery in our lifetime.

1. If you engage in pornography in any way, stop.

I’ve taken hits on my consistent linking of sex-slavery to pornography, but I will say this as loudly and consistently as I can: supply and demand. If you engage in pornography in any way, you are creating a demand for which there is a limited supply of girls to fulfill.

But, which is more, you are creating a demand in your own life and appetite for something which can not be sustained at the level at which you currently engage it. No man who flies over to Thailand to rape a five year old little girl began with that as his end goal. Somewhere back in the line of his life, he allowed a thirst for sexual sin to root in his life.

Sorry if I’m coming down hard here, but I will say this over and over and over again: pacifying your need to engage in a movement does not do one lick of help to a nine year old child who is stuck in a cage in Kamathipura, India.

I don’t mean to be all “we need your money” but we need your money. That’s the reality of rescue and rehabilitation. There are organizations all over the world who are actually rescuing and rehabilitating who need resources from people like you.

If you have five or ten dollars a month, or $100 or $200 a month, these places have staff who are going into very dark places day after day after day to rescue women and children. Most of us wouldn’t last a few minutes in those situations, but these people faithfully go to build relationships with girls who have been trafficked, children who have been born in brothels, and men whose hearts have been darkened. Support these people.

Here are some of the best organizations I know of and what their specific focus is on the subject:

As always, comments are closed on Sayable. I love to hear from readers though, so drop me a line!

20 responses to You Want to #EndIt?

Thank you. I agree wholeheartedly. I’ve had the struggle with the gimmick too, because I don’t want to seem like I’m jumping on the bandwagon, when it is actually something that I care much more about than the red x’s or the plastic bracelet.

But at the same time, I shock someone EVERY TIME I tell them that the average age of entrance into prostitution in the US is 12 to 14 years old. And I shock them when I talk about the sexual exploitation of young girls in the Philippines. And I am still shocked when I meet girls my age in the US who have come out of that life. And the fact that people still don’t know makes me feel like these “gimmicks” might be at least necessary to grab their attention.

And I guess it’s frustrating to me that it takes a gimmick to get our attention, but
I’ve seen that blog posts and journalism articles don’t seem to spread as fast as a video or a picture. And maybe I just have to accept that this is what it will take to get people thinking.

Yes & amen to all of it. As someone working with former victims of this “trendy” issue I grow weary of strict awareness without action. This is a heart wrenching situation and definitely not selfie material.
Also grateful that you’re shining light on purity. Keep writing, my friend.

The End It Movement is an awareness campaign, that partners with groups who are out in the field. They work closely with IJM and other groups. The money taken in goes to these groups. It is also encouraged that those “aware” get involved where they can locally to end sex slave trafficking.

Having said all of that – I know the End It movement will not end it, so I think it is a lofty phrase, but it accomplishes that which it sets out to do – to make people aware.

Thank you. It’s not that #EndIt is bad, but I sure do wish all of my friends posting on social media had shared how they have personally DONE something to End It. I wish they had all posted links like the ones you shared above. Instead of just a photo of a red x…

THANK YOU, for this post! I literally put up a Facebook question, asking those who are putting red x’s on their hands, other than that ‘raising awareness’ what are they DOING to really be a part of wanting to END it? I believe awareness needs to be raised, I believe that we have made huge progress in the last several years to raise that and continue to do so… but there can always be more than to just ‘be cool’ and post a picture on instagram.

I feel that the fad has been with invisible children, the kony deal, etc,….. people get involved with social media, but it ends there. I remember during invisible children, I walked in silence with people wearing the same yellow shirt….. I built a cardboard house to sleep in for a night, but that whole time I wondered… what can I DO to help?

The A21 campaign is a fabulous place to start. I think human trafficking is such a serious thing, that professionals really need to be the ones in the forefront, but yes, our GIVING to those people, is a huge thing. I’ve never been a fan of giving money, but in this area, I strongly believe in finding an organization who IS doing things.

I am so very thankful for the people who have found these issues (whether it be invisible children or any big thing in the past….) and who HAVE been choosing to do something and who HAVE made change happen! I just wish those of us, who do have a passion, would really live out that passion and do more than just uploading a cool artist pic of a red x…. THANK YOU for posting this, simply because I’ve been asking the same question… I appreciate the people and organizations who are doing what they can, and I just want those places to be known more for those who can get involved….

Pornography is the fruit of a deeper problem in a person’s heart. It is a painful coping behavior that will simply shift to some other destructive coping mechanism unless the heart is freed. I recommend http://mychainsaregone.org/ to anyone suffering from pornography and wanting to get set free.

Also check out shedances.org. It’s a smaller organization working in Honduras to save one girl at a time from sex slavery. They have a safe home and bring girls out of these situations, providing them shelter, counseling, therapy, education, and the love of Christ. They also have a new trafficking prevention program in schools in Honduras where they share with the students how to avoid becoming a victim AND they are allowed to share the Gospel during these presentations, as well. They do great work!!

Agreed. I also recommend settingcaptivesfree.com. The interface is not too modern and the clip art can look kind of cheesy, but it’s a free, life-giving, gospel-breathing program and I would recommend it highly to anyone who struggles with an addiction.

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My name is Lore (Lor-ee) Ferguson Wilbert. In every particle of life we're hearing messages, people are saying words at us, shouting them over the noise of the day. My hope is that Sayable is a place where the message is quiet, encouraging, and somewhat simple. Here's my story, I'd love to hear yours.